Introduction to Regionalism and Local Color Fiction--Freeman, Jewett,Twain

Local color or regional literature is fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region. Influenced by Southwestern and Down East humor, between the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century this mode of writing became dominant in American literature. According to the Oxford Companion to American Literature, "In local-color literature one finds the dual influence of romanticism and realism, since the author frequently looks away from ordinary life to distant lands, strange customs, or exotic scenes, but retains through minute detail a sense of fidelity and accuracy of description" (439). Its weaknesses may include nostalgia or sentimentality. Its customary form is the sketch or short story, although Hamlin Garland argued for the novel of local color. One definition of the difference between realism and local color is Eric Sundquist's: "Economic or political power can itself be seen to be definitive of a realist aesthetic, in that those in power (say, white urban males) have been more often judged 'realists,' while those removed from the seats of power have been categorized as regionalists." (Source)

Relevant Links and Resources

• Introduction to Regionalism and Local Color
• 19th Century Local Color Literature (A comprehensive site to a variety of resources, included with individual links to different authors of this particular literary movement)
• The Rise of Realism: 1860-1914 (An introductory site compiled by the US Information State Government)